The European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament has welcomed independent Italian MEP Chiara Gemma to its ranks.

Gemma is a full professor of general educational didactics and special needs education at the University of Bari and is serving as an MEP since 2019. Gemma runs a campaign for a new culture of disability and is the author of numerous scientific books and papers. The two co-chairmen of the ECR Group warmly welcomed the new MEP.

Nicola Procaccini (FdI, Italy), the newly elected co-chair, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Chiara Gemma to the ECR Group. With Professor Gemma, we are gaining a high-profile personality. This will strengthen our conservative European movement. I am looking forward to working with her.”

His Polish fellow co-chair Prof Ryszard Legutko (PiS, Poland) agreed:

“Our ECR family continues to grow. Chiara has found her home here, because we are the group that has always had the preservation of fundamental human values and the protection of human dignity among its deepest concerns.”

As an MEP, Gemma has also been a strong advocate for people with intellectual disabilities and autism. She was the first member of the legislature to accept interns with physical and mental disabilities and is the founder of the Italian national network “GENERAZIONE AUT”, which addresses the concerns of families with autism spectrum disorders. Gemma is a member of the Committee on Regional Development, a full and substitute member of the Committee on Culture and Education and of the Special Committee on Cancer.

New ECR Group Member Chiara Gemma commented:

“I am pleased with the warm welcome and that I can contribute my parliamentary work to the ECR group.”

The ECR Group now holds 64 seats in the European Parliament. As a centre-right political group, the ECR Group is the voice of the sensible middle-way between “more Europe” and “no Europe”. For the ECR Group, it is time to rebuild the EU as a community of sovereign European states – a Europe of mutual respect, cooperation and solidarity.